How do you Beat the Heat?

[Ulysses G.]

18 hours ago, Emster23 said:

"...turn on the air con full blast...."

good way to ensure your body doesn't acclimatize, if that is your goal

I lived in Thailand for 25 years and never stopped feeling broiled alive during hot season. The only thing that made it better was air conditioning after bedtime and some times an air-con restaurant during the daytime. The first 10 years, things were much more basic. I was a (poor) teacher and never used air-con at all. Now that I know better, I would never live in Thailand without access to air-conditioning again. However, there are some (old) buildings that are built so you don't need it, but they are nor easy to find. 

[simoh1490]

Insulate your roof space, create adequate ventilation in the roof space, shield windows using external bamboo curtains or similar and many more. We keep our windows and doors closed until about 4pm each day and the house stays cool. Then we open all the windows to let the heat in the concrete evacuate and that works well - we use air con. very very little but we've spent a lot on heat reduction measures, approximately: 45k for insulation, 28k for gable and soffit vents, 18k for reflective film on windows, 12k for bamboo blinds, over 100k in total but the house does stay cool.

[bandito]

I take a nap (siesta) from 1200 till 1500 in my bedroom and only use the fan, 2 to be precise.

At night use air-con.

For the rest, I like it hot.

Cold and freezing weather is pissing me off, putting on layers of clothing to keep warm.

Haven't had cold feet in years while living in Thailand.

[themerg]

Many showers. I go to malls, let them pay for air conditioning. Pools. I have 6 fans and 2 air conditioners in my 50 square meter home. Shade. Walk on the shady side of the street. Lots of cold liquids. Fruit. No big meals. Ice cream. Hibernate for a day, just eat, and shower.

Edited April 24, 2017 by themerg

[drtreelove]

BEAT THE HEAT

Originally published in Chiang Mai Mail, 2004.

 

With the hot season nearly on us, you must be thinking about how to beat the heat. Even though the Chiang Mai climate is milder than many places, dealing with the hot climate is one of the challenges of living in Thailand and SE Asia.

If you live in a climate that is radically different from where your ancestors lived and where you lived most of your life, then you may need a year or two, or more, to adjust. You may never become as tolerant to the tropical heat as the native people. Recognize that full adaptation to a new climate isn't going to happen overnight and you need to intelligently build your tolerance to the heat. There are ways to make the transition shorter and smoother.

One tip is, don't use the air conditioner more than you really have to. Wean yourself away from using it all the time. Instead of pegging it down on meat-locker temperature, ease the thermostat up a little each day or week; don't keep it colder than you really need it. Use fans as much as possible, until mid-day when you really feel you can't do without the air con.

Reducing body fat and improving your cardiovascular health through exercise and dietary adjustments can make a difference in how comfortable you are in your body, and your ability to handle heat and other stress factors. Go for a walk or a bicycle ride in the early morning and/or evening when it's cooler outside, to help your circulation, metabolism and acclimatization. For mid-day activity, in the Chiang Mai area there are swimming pools and air-conditioned exercise facilities.

Chi-kung exercises, tai chi chuan, hatha yoga and meditation can help the circulation and awareness of the inner energy body that is not so affected by external circumstances.

If you have any health problems and/or are taking any medications, first check with you doctor about how the heat and physical activity may affect you. Proceed with caution, especially with exercise in the heat; heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke, a life threatening condition.

For a temporary relief from the heat, try the mountains; it‟s cooler at the top of Doi Pui, Doi Inthanon and others. Or on the hottest days, take frequent cold showers and forget the towel, drip dry in front of the fan. Drink plenty of water, but minimize sugared drinks, coffee and alcohol. These create heat in the body and can be diuretic, causing you to lose body moisture.

I believe that what you put inside your body is more important than external cooling; what you eat and drink makes a lot of difference in how your body can tolerate the heat.

Most traditional medical systems (like Thai traditional medicine, Indian Aurvedic medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine) recognize the heating and cooling properties of foods and herbal medicines. Most traditional diets have culturally evolved to include ingredients and combinations that suit the climate. Chili peppers, for example, even though they produce a “false heat” effect right after eating, have properties to disperse heat from the body, so the overall effect is cooling.

There are three types of cooling/heating effects of consumed substances. One is the temperature at which something is consumed. That can have an almost immediate short term effect, from a few minutes up to maybe an hour or so. Another is the carbohydrate/sugar (or spice) content that can temporarily increase body heat for up to a few hours as it is metabolized. Then there is what traditional medicine systems know (something that western science is only just beginning to explore), properties in food, drink and herbal substances that add heat, trap heat, disperse heat, are drying, add or disperse dampness, cool, tonify or in the case of some substances, weaken the organ systems. These are longer term effects that can make or break your heat tolerance and overall health. All these factors are important to consider if you take a conscious approach to your personal health and comfort maintenance.

My favorite „emergency‟ cooling foods are watermelon (or unsweetened watermelon juice), and young coconut juice. Most fruits and green vegetables are cooling (durian is one exception); cucumber, asparagus and seaweeds are especially cold. Many root vegetables are warming, including onions and ginger. Grains are neutral to slightly warming. Among the meats, most ocean fish are cooling, shellfish are cold (salmon, trout and shrimp are warming), pork and beef are neutral, chicken is warming, turkey and lamb are heating. Wild game is usually more warming than its farmed equivalent.

Tea is cooling, especially unsweetened green or oolong tea. Chrysanthemum flower and lemon grass are traditional tropical cooling teas. Sugar itself is neutral in long term effects, but with over-consumption, the increased metabolism can produce a high level of temporary body heat.

Coffee is very heating, so is chocolate and alcohol in any form. Those cold coffees or beers may feel refreshing at first, but the longer-term effect is heating. Smoking, of course, is a direct way of heating and drying the body from the inside; marijuana smoke is especially hot.

My primary tip on handling heat is: surrender to it, don‟t resist, accept what is, let it pass through you and purify. Dis-identify from the misery that the mind creates. Your body may become a little uncomfortable from the heat, but Spiritual Being is un-affected.

[Sooo Upto Me]

Leave Thailand. ???

[BigKahuna]

On 2017-4-23 at 5:07 PM, ujayujay said:

....so this is your strange idea of Thaifood......OMG

Lots of oil and sugar in Thai food.

[BigKahuna]

On 2017-4-24 at 11:06 AM, themerg said:

Many showers. I go to malls, let them pay for air conditioning. Pools. I have 6 fans and 2 air conditioners in my 50 square meter home. Shade. Walk on the shady side of the street. Lots of cold liquids. Fruit. No big meals. Ice cream. Hibernate for a day, just eat, and shower.

Thats why shopping centres are popular. Not a lot of goods are being purchased. In Bangkok the heat, smog and humidity is terrible from 11am to 2pm. Simple solution is a movie, a cold drink, an icecream and a slow walk around in aircon. 

[Naam]

how to beat the heat...

 

[bill59]

We live in Arizona where it was 120 degrees 2 days ago. How do we beat it? Air conditioning. Lots of it! Even the swimming pools reach 100 degrees and become unswimmable this time of year. We exercise by doing laps in the mall. We have misting systems everywhere and we are all leasing solar panels on our homes to deal with high energy costs! My wife always worried about me dealing with the heat in Thailand and I always told her she had to be kidding! Now she knows why!


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